


Harbor Help

by The_Devil_In_The_Details_666



Series: All The Batfam BS [54]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne has an adoption addiction and we all know it, Bruce Wayne is an okay parent, But it's going somewhere, Canon? What's A Canon?, Day Four: Mers and Undersea Creatures, Day Seven: Free Day, I Don't Know Where This Is Going, Jason Todd is a merman kinda, Jason is helpful, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Pre-Slash, Tim Drake Makes Bad Decisions, Tim Drake is Robin, Tumblr: Tentatodd Week, he's trying his best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23687821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666/pseuds/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666
Summary: There's something living in Gotham Harbor.
Relationships: Can be read as Tim Drake/Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: All The Batfam BS [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1514906
Comments: 9
Kudos: 190





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this if you guys like it.

There was something strange living in Gotham Harbor, beyond the mutated fish and the mildly demonic seaweed that seemed to have evolved intelligence. Bruce thought Tim was crazy, but Tim _knew_ there was something strange, had seen it toss criminals onto the docks when they tried to escape Batman by swimming, had seen it flip their boats and drag shipments of drugs and weapons to the bottom of the bay. He’d even once seen it throw something at Batman to draw his attention to where a crew of criminals were trying to escape. It was hard to tell what it was, as it never came fully above the surface, but Tim was fairly certain it was a humanoid, had seen the outline of its body in the murky waters. He wondered if it was an Atlantean or a Martian or maybe something else completely. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim hadn’t ever expected to meet the creature of the harbor, honestly. He wanted to, but he never expected to. 

As such, it was a bit of a shock when he came to after being chained up and tossed in the harbor by criminals and found himself lying on a smooth, flat rock with a boy not much older than him staring down at him. The boy was handsome, with damp black hair and pretty blue-green eyes, but he looked angry. Tim started to sit up, but the boy planted one hand in the middle of Tim’s chest and held him down easily, stating, “Don’t.”

Tim weakly batted at the boy’s hand, but something sinuous and slimy wrapped around his arms and pinned them to his sides as the boy turned his attention to the chains around Tim’s ankles. The boy huffed, then two dark reddish-brown tentacles reached up and wrapped around the chains, pulling them apart with a screeching crunch. Tim blinked in surprise and lifted his head up to look at the boy in his entirety. He looked like a normal human until Tim’s eyes reached his waist, where tanned skin transitioned to what looked like an octopus. The boy frowned at Tim, then asked, “Where’s the big guy? The one with the pointy ears?”

Tim blushed and looked away, answering, “He, uh, he’s at home.”

“He let you go out alone? You’re tiny!”

Tim blushed brighter and whispered, “He doesn’t know I’m here.”

The boy gave him a disapproving look, then picked Tim up in his tentacles like Tim weighed nothing and started moving. Tim squirmed, but the boy’s grip tightened as he was carried through sewers and caves until they reached a familiar cave. The boy placed Tim on the dock next to the Bat-Boat and crossed his two human arms, stating, “Next time, I’ll find a way to tell the big guy.”

Tim blushed and nodded as the boy started to retreat, then called, “Wait! What’s your name?”

The boy tilted his head, then answered, “Jason.”

“I’m Tim.”

Jason smiled, then dove beneath the water as Tim retreated to the showers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Day Seven of TentaTodd Week, I decided to do a continuation of this instead of writing a new one. In case you can't tell, I'm blatantly ignoring canon timelines. And canon in general, honestly. VIVA LA REVOLUTION!

It was three weeks before Tim saw even a glimpse of Jason again. Admittedly, most of that was on Tim, who, following his unplanned swim, developed a nasty case of bronchitis that just  _ would not let up _ . Bruce had benched him until the coughs from Hell were completely gone and Tim was  _ miserable _ . He hated being benched, hated not being able to help, and so had decided that, though he had been locked out of the active cases (Bruce was a filthy hypocrite, telling Tim to rest while he was sick), he would work on cold cases and see what he could do. Which was why he was curled up in Bruce’s chair while Bruce was on patrol, bundled up in blankets and a hoodie that he had stolen from Dick in an attempt to stay warm in the freezing Cave. His nose was dripping like a faucet, his throat burned like he had swallowed sandpaper, and his head pounded like a drum, but Tim was bound and determined to focus even as the words on the screen swam. He squinted at the screen, trying to focus, but a sudden splashing from the direction of the Bat-Boat distracted him and he toggled to the security cameras as the motion activated lights turned on, revealing Jason, who had a body over his shoulder. Tim was up in a heartbeat, grabbing his mask and making his way down to the dock as Jason dumped the person onto it. As Tim approached, he realized that the person was a familiar one, even without his green mask and weird green suit. The ring on his hand was what really gave it away and Tim took just enough time to check Hal Jordan’s pulse before rounding on Jason and rasping, “Why are you bringing me an unconscious Green Lantern?”

Jason huffed and reached out to prod at Tim’s ankle with one tentacle, answering, “I found him in the sewers on my way here and thought he was a criminal. You weren’t out with the big guy.”

Tim smiled slightly and opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a bout of coughing. Jason looked alarmed and Tim finally managed to get out, “I‘m sick. He benched me.”

Jason reached out to prod at Tim’s ankle, looking concerned, and Tim looked down at Hal, then asked, “Can you come on dry land?”

“Course I can. Why?”

“Because there’s no way I can carry him and we should probably move him to the infirmary.”

Jason clambered out of the water, revealing his sleek, reddish brown tentacles in their entirety. Jason picked Hal up, slinging him over one shoulder, and Tim led him up to the infirmary, where Jason dropped Hal in one of the beds before rounding on Tim and pointing to one of the beds with a tentacle, ordering, “You should sleep. You’re sick.”

Tim tried to protest, but Jason merely picked him up by the back of his sweatshirt like a naughty puppy, pulled back the sheets on the infirmary bed, and proceeded to tuck Tim in, repeating, “You’re sick. Sleep.”

Tim flushed bright red and protested, “I have an actual bed! And I’m busy!”

Jason narrowed his eyes at Tim as Tim climbed out of the bed and moved to grab Tim again, apparently weirdly intent on protecting him, but a low groan from Hal attracted his attention. Hal slowly sat up and Jason moved in a heartbeat, placing himself between Hal and Tim as Hal asked, “What the- How did I get to the Cave? Aw man, Bats is gonna kill me.”

Tim peered around Jason just as Hal noticed him and Hal scrambled off the bed, suit forming over him as he pointed at Jason and shouted, “You! You attacked me in the sewers!”

Jason crossed his arms and puffed his chest out, answering, “Yeah, and? I thought you were some slimy creep trying to break in. Sue me for trying to protect my friend.”

Hal looked incredulous and asked, “You’re friends with Batman?”

Tim cringed slightly and peeked out from behind Jason, glad he had grabbed his mask as he greeted, “Uh, hi, Mr. Green Lantern. I’m Robin.”

Hal looked like he had just been slapped as he stared at Tim and Tim made it through every curse he knew in every language he knew (there were a lot) before Hal finally asked, “This is a hallucination, right? I ate something funky at that weird diner and am now tripping balls and hallucinating Ursula’s baby brother and a kid in Batman’s secret sex dungeon?”

Tim started to answer, but broke off into a coughing fit for a minute before he could wheeze, “Nope.”

Both Hal and Jason looked alarmed and Jason picked Tim up again, plopping him in the bed and snapping, “Weird green dude-“

“Green Lantern.”

“I could not give less of a shit. Do you know any… I dunno. Human medicine?”

TIm batted at Jason’s tentacles, complaining, “I’m fine! It’s just the tail end of bronchitis.”

“What is going on?”

Tim nearly had a heart attack at Bruce’s sudden appearance and squeaked, “I can explain!”

Bruce directed a look at him from beneath the cowl and Tim wilted slightly, confessing, “I can’t explain.”

Hal piped up at that, defending, “I’m not here of my freewill. I was down in the sewers because I got intel about a Yellow Lantern ring there and this maniac knocked me out and brought me here. But now that I’m here, what the fuck, Bats? You have a kid?”

“I was just tryin’ to protect my friend! I thought you were a criminal!”

“I am very obviously a Green Lantern!”

“I don’t know what that is! No normal person skulks around Gotham’s sewer system!”

“You were also skulking around the sewer system!”

“In case you hadn’t fuckin’ noticed, Glowstick, I ain’t exactly normal!”

“ENOUGH!”

Batman’s shout made Jason flinch back like he expected to get hit and a brief look of regret flickered over Bruce’s face before he took a deep breath and ordered, “Start from the beginning. You, with the tentacles, who are you and why are you in my cave?”

Jason crossed his arms and lied through his teeth, “Jason. And I found this place a couple years ago while looking for food. I caught this dude snooping around on my way here to offer my help properly, figured what the Hell, I’ll bring Pointy-Ears a present, since he’s refused to acknowledge my help for the last five years, and lo and behold, there was a baby in here coughing up a lung!”

Tim appreciated Jason lying about how they had met, as admitting that he had snuck out and gotten bronchitis because he had been patrolling alone would not have gone over well, and Bruce looked doubtful, asking, “Your help for the last five years?”

“Yeah, asshole. Your kid knew all about it. Asked practically as soon as he saw me if I’d been the one chuckin’ criminals back onto the docks when they try swimming away.”

Batman turned his attention onto Tim and Tim stated, “I told you there was something living in Gotham Harbor, you just didn’t believe me.”

Batman brought one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily, then sighed, “And you came to… offer your help?”

Jason looked away, seeming insecure, and Tim scooted across the bed to poke Jason’s shoulder before Jason admitted, “I need some help. I- My mom is long gone and- I ain’t got anyone anymore. I- I’m not real welcome with others of my kind and my situation ain’t great.”

Tim could see the exact moment that Bruce decided Jason was his newest kid and smirked to himself as Bruce sighed, “I’ll do what I can to help.”

Jason lit up and Hal cleared his throat, asking, “Seriously, Bats, what the fuck? You have a kid?”

Tim snorted and muttered, “ _ A _ kid. Try four.”

Apparently he hadn’t said it quite as quietly as he thought, as Hal whipped around and shouted, “FOUR?!?”

Jason flinched at the yell and Bruce looked incredibly tired as he took a deep breath through his nose, then ordered, “Out, Jordan. And don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

Hal looked between Tim and Bruce, then apparently decided that he wasn’t quite suicidal enough to stick around and headed back towards the sewers. Bruce watched him go, then turned to Jason and asked, “Why are you approaching me now? If you’ve been helping me without my knowledge for so long, why call attention to yourself now?”

Jason looked away, not meeting Bruce’s eyes, and admitted, “My old man showed up again. And word is you don’t hurt kids, so I figured it couldn’t get much worse if I asked you for help.”

“Your old man?”

Jason shrunk down and nodded, answering, “Yeah, he’s… He’s pretty bad.”

His tone made Tim uneasy and he gave Jason a closer look, feeling bile rise in his throat when he realized that what he thought was a pattern of lighter reddish-pink marks on Jason’s tentacles and across most of his body was actually hundreds, maybe even thousands, of scars. Bruce seemed to reach the same conclusion as Tim and stated, “You’re safe here.”

Jason fidgeted and Tim started to say something, but was cut off by Jason suddenly letting out a startled yelp and toppling over, tentacles wrapping together and lightening in color until they matched Jason’s skin tone and formed into two bunches that were compressing together with an unpleasant crunching, squishing noise. Jason looked about as confused and surprised as Tim felt as his tentacles formed into human legs, then looked up at Bruce and Tim and stated, “Well. That’s new.”


	3. Chapter 3

Tim dropped a blanket over Jason, color rising in his cheeks, and Bruce ordered, “Robin, go get Nightwing’s spare sweatpants.”

Tim hurried over to the showers and grabbed the worn-out gray sweatpants stuffed in Dick’s cubby before hurrying back to Jason, who hadn’t moved, apparently in shock. Tim held the sweatpants out to him and Jason took them, then started to try to stand on shaking legs. He started to topple over almost as soon as he was up, but Bruce caught his shoulder and gently pushed him to sit on the infirmary bed, asking, “What do you mean, that’s new? Have your tentacles never become legs before?”

Jason shook his head wordlessly, unfolding the sweatpants, and spent several minutes struggling to figure out how to get them on before finally managing it. Bruce ‘hrmm’ed consideringly and Tim asked, “Have you ever been out of water for long periods of time before? Maybe it’s because your tentacles dried out?”

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it, mulling it over. After a few moments, Jason answered, “That- That actually makes sense. I’ve never spent more than a few minutes out of water before.”

Before another word could be said, the sound of the clock opening reached them and several sets of footsteps started down the stairs. Alfred’s even, measured footsteps contrasted with Dick’s fast steps, but neither compared to Steph’s near sprint as she burst into the infirmary, exclaiming, “TIM! YOU’LL NEVER- Who the hell is that?”

Jason flinched back at Steph’s enthusiastic shouts and Bruce sighed, scolding, “Language, Stephanie.”

Steph stuck her tongue out at Bruce, then rounded on Jason, who looked rather like he wanted to hide behind Tim. She put her hands on her hips, frowning as she scrutinized Jason, and Tim introduced, “Steph, this is Jason. Jason, Steph. She’s my sister’s girlfriend.”

Dick entered, adjusting the sling on his left arm, then froze when he saw Jason, asking, “Uh, B, who…?”

Bruce sighed and pulled his cowl off, stating, “Jason. He’ll be staying with us for a bit.”

Steph had moved steadily closer to Jason and he had scooted steadily back, looking distinctly frightened as Steph asked, “Are you wearing Dick’s sweatpants?”

Tim stepped forward, putting himself between Steph and Jason, and answered, “He didn’t have any other clothes.”

Steph narrowed her eyes further and Dick looked between Jason and Bruce with a suspicious look, asking, “B, where  _ exactly _ did you find  _ another _ boy with black hair and blue eyes?”

“The sewers.”

Dick looked thrown by Jason’s answer and he stared in silence as Alfred entered, bearing a tray with several mugs and a plate of sandwiches. His eyes skimmed over the assembled group, widening almost imperceptibly at the sight of Jason, and Dick finally found his voice, asking incredulously, “He found you in the sewers?”

Jason shifted uncomfortably and answered, “I found my way here in the sewers. I, uh, I was looking for food.”

Almost as if on cue, Jason’s stomach rumbled and he blushed. Bruce hummed thoughtfully and asked, “What sort of things do you eat, Jason?”

Jason shrugged, stating, “Whatever I can find. The leftovers from the others, seaweed, the weird little shell thingys with the claws, I can’t remember what they’re called. Sometimes even the birds if they get close enough to catch. A lot of the stuff in the bay isn’t edible ‘cause of all the toxic crap that gets dumped. Most of the fish aren’t edible anymore and food’s been real hard to find the last couple of years.”

Bruce nodded and Dick opened his mouth, then closed it, then held up a hand and asked, “What? Why are you talking about the bay?”

“‘Cause I live there? Don’t tell me you never noticed me either.”

Steph narrowed her eyes at Jason and asked, “What do you mean, you live in the bay?”

Dick looked just as confused and Jason answered huffily, “I mean, I live in the damn bay. How much more explanation do you need?”

Bruce cleared his throat pointedly and interrupted, “Let’s get you upstairs. It’s rather cold down here and I, for one, would like to get somewhere warm.”

Tim nodded emphatically, then sneezed as Alfred gently herded Steph and Dick towards the stairs. Jason stood, wobbling on his feet, and took a few hesitant steps, looking not entirely unlike a baby deer as he grumbled, “How the fuck do you people use these things?”

Tim clamped a hand over his mouth to hold his laughter back and caught sight of even Bruce giving a small, amused smile as he stated, “You’ll get used to them soon.”

Jason huffed, but Tim could see him slowly getting used to walking on legs instead of tentacles. Bruce led them towards the stairs, then changed course to the elevator when Jason mumbled, “You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

They rose in silence and the elevator doors dinged open, revealing a tired-looking Damian standing in the hallway. He looked confused and rubbed his eyes, mumbling, “What is going on, Father?”

Bruce rested the back of his hand on Damian’s forehead, face pinching with worry, and picked him up after a moment, stating, “You’re running a fever, Damian.”

The 8-year old squirmed, but, upon recognizing that there was no escape, settled into Bruce’s hold and tucked his face into Bruce’s shoulder as Bruce led Tim and Jason to the kitchen. Tim settled into an open chair and Jason hesitantly followed suit as Bruce settled Damian in another chair. Alfred set a plate of sandwiches in the center of the table, then set a mug of tea in front of Tim with a pointed look. Tim slunk down in his seat, abashed, and took a sip of the tea. The honey in it soothed the pain in his throat as Alfred fussed over Damian and Jason fidgeted uncomfortably, looking around the kitchen at everything. Dick grabbed a sandwich from the plate and took a bite, chewing and swallowing before requesting, “So, Jason, please enlighten us as to what you mean when you say you live in the bay.”

Jason’s stomach rumbled again and Tim nudged the plate towards him, prompting Jason to hesitantly take a sandwich. He took a bite, confusion flickering over his face, and they sat in awkward silence until Jason had swallowed his bite and started, “I mean that I live at the bottom of Gotham Harbor. I’m a cecaelia.”

Dick looked at Bruce, who nodded, and slowly asked, “But you have legs?”

“Yeah, that’s a new thing.”

He took another bite of the sandwich and Tim reached for one, then nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand reached past him to take one, spinning to look at Cass, who gave him a sneaky smile. She settled into her chair with her sandwich and Jason looked at her curiously. Tim took another sip of his tea, then introduced, “Jason, this is my sister Cass, my little brother Damian, my older brother Dick, and Alfred. Everyone, this is Jason.”

Cass tipped her head and waved and Jason gave her a weak smile. Then Alfred asked the question they all knew was coming.

“Shall I prepare a room for him?”

Bruce gave a small smile and answered, “If you don’t mind, Alfred. The room next to Tim’s is open, isn’t it?”

Alfred didn’t even look surprised as answered, “It is, Master Bruce.”


End file.
